Problem Solver: Seller's merchandise, money disappear on Amazon.com

Disputed credit card charge ends in total loss

Elizabeth Guinea, 27, of Frankfort, says the sale of a percussion bell set sold on Amazon was disputed, so now she's out the money and the set. (Andrew Miller, Photo for the Tribune)

It's been more than two years since Elizabeth Guinea sold a percussion bell set through Amazon.com.

The Frankfort native apparently will not receive her money, and is out the set as well.

The botched transaction started in August 2010, when Guinea posted the set for $179.49. It sold Aug. 29, 2010, but things soon began to unravel.

On Oct. 16 of that year, Amazon notified Guinea that the buyer was unhappy. Although Guinea had accurately described the percussion set in her Amazon posting — stating it did not come on wheels — the buyer was upset the set arrived wheelless.

Guinea said she printed the description of the set as it had appeared on Amazon and sent it to the online giant.

For almost two years, she heard nothing from Amazon.

This summer, she went to sell some used textbooks through Amazon and noticed that although the percussion set sale went through, her account was not credited.

About the same time, July 30, she received an email from Amazon.

"This notice serves as confirmation that we have initiated a refund in the amount of $179.49 to (the buyer) for the following item: One percussion bell kit with bag, stand and practice pad."

Guinea was stunned. She had heard nothing from Amazon since October 2010, and at no point was she told the buyer's money would be refunded.

Hours after receiving the email from Amazon, Guinea fired off a reply.

She pointed out that the buyer still had the percussion set and now had the money as well.

"I do not feel (the buyer) should get this for free," Guinea wrote. "It also makes me very upset that Amazon just took the money out to give them without contacting me to tell me what was going on with this."

Later that night, Andres, an account specialist at the company, wrote Guinea.

He said the customer had disputed the transaction with his or her credit card company in 2010. On Oct. 16, 2010, the buyer's credit card company ruled in the buyer's favor and reversed the charges that had been paid to Amazon.

"The refund amount was not deducted from your Amazon Payments account until now, mostly likely because sufficient funds were not available," Andres wrote. "Per the Amazon Seller Participation Agreement, we reserve the right to seek reimbursement from sellers if we receive a chargeback from a buyer's credit card issuer."

Andres signed the email "Thank you for selling with Amazon.com."

Some thank-you, Guinea thought.

Guinea said she called Amazon and asked what happens to her percussion set.

"They said, 'You just don't get that back,'" Guinea said.

As far as the Amazon customer service agents were concerned, it was no longer Amazon's problem, Guinea said.

"They were telling me I'd have to contact the buyer's credit card company," Guinea said. "I told them that's not my job. I don't have that information."

She said the transaction didn't list the buyer's full name.

"Their account is only their first name," she said. "It's a privacy thing. How am I going to get ahold of that person?"

Outraged, Guinea contacted What's Your Problem?

She said she used Amazon to sell the percussion set to avoid these types of issues.

"To me, (the buyer) should not have gotten her money back until the percussion set was back in my hands," Guinea said. "There's nothing I can do. Pretty much what (Amazon) allowed her to do is just kind of steal it."